


personal space

by sophiescribbles



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon LGBTQ Character, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Catradora Week 2020, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Catra (She-Ra), Lesbian Disaster Adora (She-Ra), Oblivious Adora (She-Ra), Past Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28950615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiescribbles/pseuds/sophiescribbles
Summary: Catra was never a big fan of casual touch.Adora, however, was not this way.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 109





	personal space

**Author's Note:**

> listen to cigarette daydreams by cage the elephant while reading to get the full experience. i listened to it on repeat while writing this and may or may not have cried. a lot. enjoy!
> 
> SLIGHT TW: mention of physical/mental abuse (very brief, only in the beginning)

_before_

Catra was never a big fan of casual touch.

Growing up in the Horde, there was very much a “every person for themselves” kind of vibe, even from the very beginning. Sure, Catra and the other cadets were friendly, but whenever one of them offered her a hug or slung an arm around her shoulder, she always instinctively tensed up and moved away. After so many years of being tortured - both mentally and physically - by Shadow Weaver, she was constantly wary of other people’s proximity to her. Catra’s guard was always up, making sure that every rare touch she did give out was deliberate. 

Adora, however, was not this way. 

From the moment Catra met Adora, when they both were just tiny toddlers, she’d caught on very quickly to Adora’s affinity for platonic touch. She was constantly putting an arm around Catra’s shoulders, or nudging her side with her elbow, or even laying on top of her when Catra refused to get out of bed in the morning. Truth be told, Adora was the only person whom Catra let invade her personal space. Maybe it was because they grew up together, or because Adora was the only person who made Catra feel completely safe (or maybe it was because Catra was deeply, irreversibly, head-over-heels in love with her best friend, but we’ll come back to that later). At any rate, Catra had come to love Adora’s affectionate tendencies, despite everything. Even if they were only platonic. 

At first, Catra had let herself believe that she was the only one who received Adora’s easy affection, but she soon realized that it was just part of Adora’s selfless and doting personality. Adora did the exact same thing with Catra as she did with their fellow cadets, and even sometimes Shadow Weaver (in spite of Catra’s heartbreak). The affection Adora showed Catra didn’t make her special- it was just Adora’s nature. 

Sometimes, though, Catra let herself pretend. 

Like right now. 

They were sitting up on their favorite railing, watching the sun set over the industrial landscape of their home. Despite all the metal and noise and slightly gross smell that Catra could never quite place, the Fright Zone was truly beautiful if you cared enough to look for it - at least in moments like these. The sky painted itself in vibrant oranges, pinks, and purples, and the warm summer air surrounded the two cadets. They were sitting side by side, their legs dangling over the edge, and Adora’s ankle kept brushing Catra’s calf. Catra kept pretending that her heart didn’t skip a beat every time their skin made contact. 

“Catra, I really am sorry.” 

Adora’s apology cut into the peaceful silence of the roof. 

Catra sighed. Earlier, Adora had informed her that Shadow Weaver had finally promoted her to Force Captain, and that Adora would be leading her first mission soon - sans Catra. Apparently, Shadow Weaver thought that Catra “didn’t have what it takes to assist her most prized cadet with such an important task ”. 

No fucking surprise.

Catra was always second best. She knew that. It was a fact, and an obvious one at that. It had been that way for as long as Catra could remember - Adora was the golden girl, the rising star of the Horde, and Catra was… well, Catra was just there, usually making sarcastic comments and loyally backing up her best friend. Every hero needs a sidekick, right? 

As much as Catra acted like it didn’t matter to her and pretended that she liked second place just fine, it really fucking stung. All her life, she had been second to Adora, and now Adora getting promoted _and_ not being allowed to bring Catra on missions because she “wasn’t good enough” - it was just the cherry on top of the sundae that was Catra’s catastrophic life. Normally, she tried not to show how bitter she was about Adora’s success, but earlier she’d snapped, telling her exactly how she felt about Adora getting placed above her yet again. 

Which was why Adora was now looking at her expectantly, waiting for Catra to say something in response to her apology for something she couldn’t control. 

“It’s fine, Adora. It’s not like I would’ve wanted to come on that bullshit mission anyway.” Catra finally responded. 

Adora’s face contorted with hurt at Catra’s harsh words. “I did try to get her to let you come, by the way. She just… she wouldn’t budge.” 

“Hmm. Who could’ve predicted that.” 

“Aw, come on, Catra, I’m sure she had a reason-” 

“Yeah, she does, and it’s that she fucking hates my guts for God knows why. We both know that. You just never want to admit it.” Catra interrupted. “Look, I don’t want to argue about Shadow Weaver right now, okay? Really, Adora, it’s not a big deal.” 

Adora didn’t look convinced. 

Catra studied her face, wishing - not for the first time - that she knew what was going through her friend’s mind. It was hard to stay mad at Adora when she looked this goddamn beautiful, though- the hazy dusk light emanating from the sunset made her sunny hair and bright eyes look, well… Catra didn’t have any words in her (to be fair, limited) vocabulary to describe it. 

Then all of the sudden Adora’s arm was around her, and she was being pulled into her friend’s chest with a sigh. Catra’s face turned red and her body stiff as Adora began to tentatively rub Catra’s opposite shoulder. 

“Look, I really am sorry that Shadow Weaver was being such a.. well, a bitch earlier. It’s not fair. I wish you could come with me. I- honestly, I could really use your help.” Adora paused to look into Catra’s eyes. Catra furiously tried to fight her blush. 

“I’m scared, Catra.” Adora admitted, fear and doubt clouding her expression. 

Catra’s heart broke a little. 

“You’ll do fine, dummy. You’re like, what, the best cadet in the Horde? And obviously Shadow Weaver must trust you, if she gave you this mission _and_ promoted you to Force Captain.” Catra added, a hint of jealousy lacing her words. “Honestly, Adora, you’ll do great.” 

At Catra’s words of encouragement, Adora cracked a stupidly attractive, lopsided grin and pulled Catra even tighter into her chest. Catra’s heart leaped as she willed herself to forget all her feelings of anger and jealousy and grief, and finally relax into the touch - a rarity, for her, and they both knew it. For a moment, Catra allowed herself to believe that the hug was more than just a platonic show of affection, even though she knew better. She closed her eyes and leaned back into Adora’s warm chest, sighing a little. 

“I love you.” 

Catra choked and jolted upright, all her fur sticking straight up. “ _What?_ ” 

Adora chuckled and then snorted. “I love you, dumbass. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” 

The best _friend_. 

Catra sighed, with both relief and disappointment. “Oh, really? Cause sometimes I feel like you want to kill me yourself and become best friends with _Kyle._ ” she retorted sarcastically, a smirk playing out over her face in an effort to mask her true emotions. 

Adora giggled again. Catra thought that there was never a purer sound. “Really, stupid. I’ve got your back. I’ll always be there for you.” 

“Always?”

“Always.” 

_during_

Catra was tired. 

Tired of fighting, tired of pretending, and actually just tired in general- she never slept well before a mission. Especially when she knew she would have to face Adora. 

They were going through the motions- Catra and her soldiers had embarked on a mission to overtake the town of Revany, and Adora and her righteous little princess friends had shown up to save the day. Now Catra and Adora were facing off, just the two of them, while the other princesses and Horde soldiers fought a few feet away. 

“Give it up, Catra.” Adora said with determination. 

The wind whipped around Catra’s shoulders as she stared into the eyes of her former best friend. 

The pair had been fighting for a while on a small plateau set just above the town, when Adora had lunged forward and pinned Catra to the hard ground- all personal space forgotten, in true Adora fashion. Catra chuckled bitterly to herself in spite of everything, thinking that this was not exactly how she’d imagined Adora pinning her to something as a young teenager. She smirked. 

“See, I could give up, but I don’t really want to.” 

Catra pulled Adora to her chest, then flipped her over her head so that the blonde was the one lying on her back. Catra backflipped over her, landing with her legs straddling Adora, and bent down, tracing one claw underneath her throat to tip her chin up. 

Adora’s eyes narrowed with frustration and sadness as she stared directly at Catra. 

Catra blinked, her smug appearance faltering for the slightest second. 

“Why are you _doing_ this, Catra? Don’t you see all the pain you’re causing? I know you’re not a bad person, I- I don’t see how you can still be loyal to the Hor-” 

“Ahhhh!” Catra yelled with both rage and effort as she pulled Adora up from the ground and grabbed her by her collar (not an easy feat, as Adora in She-Ra form was muscular as hell). Catra stared at Adora with all the intensity and anger and hurt she could muster- and she had a _lot_ to pull from. 

“Do you _really_ wanna talk about _loyalty_ right now?” 

Adora swallowed. 

Catra hated Adora. She really did. She had abandoned her without a second thought, for some randos she met in the Whispering Woods- and now they were forced to be _rivals_ , with Catra as second-in-command to Hordak and Adora apparently being fucking She-Ra. Catra had always thought that Adora was the one person who would never leave her- she had _promised_ they’d always look out for one another. Apparently it was a bullshit promise. 

So Catra had put Adora out of her mind the second she returned to the Fright Zone the day Adora abandoned her. She didn’t think about Adora when she was yelling at the cadets, or going through paperwork, or planning the Horde’s next move. She wasn’t thinking about Adora as she got ready for the day, or when she was training in the gym, or as she lay awake at night in her bed, all alone and fucking terrified. 

Except for when she was. Which was always. 

But Adora had still abandoned her. She had gotten up and left, just like that, with no thoughts or concerns as to what would happen to _Catra_. Catra had to suffer the _consequences_ of Adora’s disloyalty, and now had nothing to show for it except a pit in her stomach that was consistently getting larger.

_“You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”_

_“You promise?”_

Against her will, Catra’s eyes welled up with tears as Adora’s broken vows rung through her head. The faint sounds of fighting carried on in the background as Adora continued to stare at her. 

“Catra?” 

They were really close, with Catra still grabbing a fisful of Adora’s shirt and Adora’s arms braced against Catra’s back- but this was nothing like their platonic and comfortable touches of the past. Both their bodies were impossibly tense, with scowls covering their faces- which were mere inches apart. For a strange second, Catra wondered what would happen if she just leaned forward and kissed Adora like she’d imagined so many times before. She’d probably hurl Catra into the sea of fighting soldiers below them. 

Who, Catra realized with a start, weren’t fighting anymore. 

All of the sudden, Catra was being pulled backwards into strong arms that could only have been Scorpia’s. Then they were running all the way back to their emergency skiff, where Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio were already waiting. 

“What- what the _fuck_ is going on?” Catra sputtered. 

“Sorry, Wildcat. We couldn’t beat ‘em today… we lost. I- we gotta get out of here.” Scorpia explained nervously as Rogelio started up the skiff. 

“Wha- no, you _idiots_ , we can’t _lose_ , how could you-” Catra hissed furiously, slamming her fist against the side of the vehicle in anger and frustration. She looked out over the scene of celebrating, victorious princesses, trying to pinpoint what went wrong, but stopped scanning when she locked eyes with a certain blonde warrior. 

From the middle of a group hug with Bow and Glimmer, Adora’s eyes pierced Catra’s as the Horde skiff pulled away in defeat. To her surprise, though, Adora’s gaze wasn’t full of rage or hate- it was filled with pure sadness. It made Catra’s heart ache and a lump form in her throat. 

_“I promise.”_

“Guess you didn’t mean it.” Catra mumbled as she turned away from the town and begun to prepare herself to face Hordak’s furious disappointment. 

_after_

Catra had never felt more at home than with Adora’s hand resting reassuringly on the small of her back.

Glimmer was hosting a huge ball in honor of one full of year of peace on Etheria, and she’d invited practically everyone they knew. The huge hall - the same one where Glimmer’s coronation party had taken place - was packed full of friends, leaders, and other important Etherians, and was lavishly decorated in flowers and jewel tones. In one corner, Sea Hawk was enthusiastically showing Mermista how fast he could eat three pieces of cake (Mermista appeared unimpressed, but her small, amused smile gave her away). Entrapta, Perfuma, and Scorpia were engaged in what seemed to be a very funny conversation, and Frosta was off making mischief somewhere. Bow and Glimmer were glued to each other’s sides, making sure to mingle with every guest they came across, and doing it graciously at that. The whole room was bursting with happy energy as people danced and the music played on in the background, everyone filled with joy and relief that Etheria had seen one full year of peace. 

A year ago, Catra would have dreaded a big event like this. She used to hate crowds, especially ones where practically everyone she saw would insist on throwing their arms around her. But things were different now. _She_ was different now. 

Adora stuck faithfully by Catra’s side all night, guiding her around the room to talk to all of their friends. She led Catra gently by her wrist, then by her shoulders, and then by the small of her back. And whenever she got a chance, Adora would take Catra’s hand and give her a small yet incredibly affectionate smile. 

And Catra was, well… Catra was _so in love_. 

After Glimmer had dragged her out onto the dance floor for much longer than Catra signed up for, she moved to pull her hand out of Glimmer’s. 

“Where’re you going?” Glimmer yelled at her over the music, flashing a smile. She was a definitely little drunk, but so was Catra. Fuck it- they all deserved it. 

“Gonna go get some fresh air!” Catra yelled back, laughing at her and Bow, who were now doing some sort of weird handshake-type dance that only they would know. “Be back soon!” 

Catra snuck through the guests partying on the dance floor, and weaved her way outside until she was sitting on a bench in the cool night air. The patio where the bench sat faced the Moonstone, which glowed bright and steady in the inky sky. Catra took a deep breath, wondering how the hell she got lucky enough to be here. 

“Catraaaaaaa!” she heard a familiar voice yell from behind her, right before she was being jumped on by her very blonde, very drunk girlfriend. Adora wriggled her way around until she was straddling Catra from the front, with her arms around Catra’s neck and their foreheads pressed together. 

“Hey, Adora.” Catra teased quietly, with a small laugh. “Ever heard of something called personal space?” 

“Mmmmmmm…. nope! But what I have heard of is how much I loveeee you, Catra! You’re so funny and caring and-” Adora paused, turning her head to make sure no one was there, and then leaning in to whisper conspiratorially into Catra’s ear. “-hot. You’re really hot, Catra! Did I tell you that, Catra? Am I saying your name too much? I love you, Catra.” Adora giggled and then hiccuped. 

As Catra stared at her girlfriend, all draped over her and giggly, all she could think of was how she knew, as clear as day, that she loved Adora. She loved her, she loved her, she loved her. And somehow, by some miracle, Adora loved her back.

Even now, Catra couldn’t believe her luck. 

“I love you too, dummy.” Catra said softly as she brought a hand up to cup the side of Adora’s cheek. “Why else would I let you jump all over me?” 

Adora cracked one of her trademark lopsided grins at Catra’s affectionate words, and then pulled her into a soft kiss. Catra closed her eyes, relaxing into it. Adora’s breath smelled like booze. Catra didn’t mind. 

When they finally broke apart, Adora slid off Catra’s lap so that they were sitting side by side on the bench, looking up at the Moonstone. Catra rested her head on Adora’s shoulder, and Adora’s arm held tightly around Catra’s back. Catra sighed, completely relaxed for once in her life. 

She was _home_.


End file.
